


Welcome to Blood Pledge Castle

by YurikoNeko (AlaxxisSade)



Category: Kyou Kara Maou!
Genre: Canon - Book, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Gen, Original Character(s), Plot Twists, The Shin Makoku Dream, Tour, nah not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2015-06-01
Packaged: 2018-04-02 07:36:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4051741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlaxxisSade/pseuds/YurikoNeko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shin Makoku is a mysterious place for humans, and at the heart of it all is the mysterious Blood Pledge Castle and its mysterious inhabitants. So when a couple on a trip stumble across a friendly tour guide, they are half-pulled, half-enticed into a dangerous trip exploring all the castle's secrets...</p><p>...where the only real danger, of course, is the danger of having all their fantasies about the mazoku destroyed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Welcome to Blood Pledge Castle

**Author's Note:**

> If I tell you not to look at the tags, will you not look at the tags?

“…Are you sure we’re allowed to be here?”

                “Shh!”

                Sylvia hushes her husband, before turning back to gawk at Blood Pledge Castle from behind the wall. It’s an impressive building, and despite the rather foreboding name, feels more like a stern general than a blood-thirsty demon.

                “Geez, what if we’re caught?” Bard complains, but he sticks to his wife’s back and cranes his neck as far as it can go anyway. Though there are palaces like this in Dai Shimaron as well, there’s just something about this mazoku castle that feels… different…

                “Pretty, isn’t it?”

                “Gah!” The couple nearly jumps out of their skins. Oh gods, were they going to find out what mazoku did to human trespassers? Though the country has been open to visitors for years, there were always the rumors of suspected spies being tortured into skeletons, then mutilated with wings or drafted into the army to fight against their own home countries—

                Sylvia put her arms around her head, shaking, but after a few more seconds pass and when no one drags them away, she can’t help but sneak a peek at the stranger who caught them red-handed.

                “…Eh?” It’s not one of those ridiculously good-looking mazoku with their natural green hair or purple eyes*, but… a human?

                The young lady smiles at them warmly, waiting for them to calm down before she speaks. “Don’t worry, you’re not doing anything wrong.”

                Her language is perfect and unaccented. Sylvia listens in wonder, remembering again her surprise when she first found out the dreaded, cursed mazoku speak the exact same language as they do in Shimaron.

                “Are you guys tourists?”

                “Ye—No, I mean, I’m here on a business trip and we wanted to look around…” Bard hates the stutter in his voice, but even so he doesn’t realize that he’s automatically positioned himself between the stranger and his wife.

                The girl looks exasperatedly amused, and Sylvia is surprised to see such an expression on someone more or less her age. Late teens to mid-twenties, no more. “If you wanna look, come on in and look. In fact, I’ll lead you around! It’s hard to be a tour guide when all the tourists hide behind walls and run away when I say hi.”

                The couple coughs awkwardly. Bard glances sideways at his wife, and sighs when he meets her gaze of pure curiosity. “We’d appreciate it.”

                “Really?” Their new tour guide looks even more enthusiastic than they do. “Ah, that’s great! It’s been so long since I got to show humans around!”

                “Aren’t you human too, though?” Sylvia can’t help but ask once she got to know the girl better, as they walk down the long white stone path, accompanied by waterways on both sides*.

                “Hmm… I suppose you could call me a refugee from Zorashia.”

                “And the mazoku let you be their castle tour guide?”

                The girl looks at them quizzically. “You’ve been in town, right? Haven’t you seen the humans and shinzoku around? His Majesty King Yuuri has developed the country a lot in this past decade, and since mazoku kids don’t grow up that fast, we accept anyone from anywhere, as long as they can work.”

                “That’s very… generous of him.” The words leave Bard’s mouth before he can think them over, and he’s surprised at the hint of resentment in his voice. Back in Dai Shimaron, they had to go through tests and trials before they were even allowed to visit Shin Makoku, and goodness knows how mazoku are treated there.

                “I know, right?” Like almost everyone else they’ve met here, the girl’s expression seems to shine when she talks about the king. “Of course, there are some people who argue against the change… but the mazoku live very long lives, so they will adapt to it eventually.”

                By then they’ve reached the castle itself, and the couple is again taken aback to see how friendly the soldiers are with their tour guide. They exchange smiles, greetings, the occasional grievance, and often part with laughter. Some even offer a wink or a handshake to the human tourists, as though they are sincerely pleased to see human strangers amongst them.

                Sylvia and Bard are quickly adjusting their mental images of the mazoku.

                “Here’s our first stop: the training grounds!”

                The girl leads them past the large grassy field where a squad of soldiers are doing their morning routine. One of them catches their eyes—or precisely, his bald head blinds their eyes by reflecting the late morning sunlight.

                “O-ow—”

                “Hehe, sorry,” the girl giggles. “That’s Dacascos, he’s the captain in charge of the training here.”

                Bard watches the soldiers swinging their swords expertly, with the keen eye of a weapons trader. “They’re all pretty good swordsmen… I just thought they would spend more of their time training that mysterious maryoku of theirs.”

                “Oh, they do, but that team there doesn’t have maryoku.” The girl’s words, said innocently, shocks her visitors to the core. “All of them are either half-blood mazoku or mazoku born without maryoku. They still learn how to fight, because they want to protect this country too, but of course we all hope that they won’t have to.”

                The couple has heard of mazoku without maryoku, and shinzoku without houryoku. The treatment the latter go through, forced into slavery without even a name to call their own*, has become a common campside ghost story these past few years. But no one said anything about how mazoku treated their… specially-qualified brethren.

                Now they know, it’s because there’s nothing to say.  Maryoku or not, they belong to this country, and thus are entrusted with her safety.

                Sylvia and Bard are still trying to process that idea as she leads them to the stables. As expected, Shin Mazoku’s two-hearted horses* are magnificent creatures indeed, regal and powerful. And yet, they don’t hold a candle to the man the entourage meets inside, tending them.

                “Lord Weller.”

                The tour guide bobs a polite little curtsey, and her visitors hasten to follow. The tall soldier smiles at them bemusedly, a twinkle in his silver-speckled irises. “So you finally found some customers? Welcome to Shin Makoku, and Blood Pledge Castle.”

                “Don’t tease them, you know we don’t charge for this service.” The girl sticks her tongue out playfully as the couple watch on with something akin to horror.

                “Is he half human too?” Sylvia asks as soon as Conrad leaves for his daily duties. “Is that really _the_ Lord Weller that was in Dai Shimaron?”

                Because they’ve all heard the legend, of course—the prodigal son of the true Dai Shimaron royal line, the real last Belal that the current king tried to recruit* around ten years ago. Back then, when Lord Weller was in the country, the two of them were just children, but even they heard the rumors. Hints, whispers, the wind of an uprising. Though the rebellious voices died down a bit when they heard their royal heir eventually returned to the Maou*, the possibility and the hope it brought never really disappeared.

                “It’s just that… he looks so young…”

                The girl laughs again. “If you think he looks young, wait till you see His Majesty!”

                Sylvia gives a little yelp at that, and Bard turns a special shade of white. “Y-you’re going to bring us to the Maou?”

                “What, you don’t want me to?” She looks a little dejected. “He’s really not that scary… but then again, he does seem rather busy these days, so I suppose we shouldn’t disturb him.”

                They both heave a sigh of relief, though deep down they both have to swallow that little bit of unexpected disappointment. Still, if they really had to go face to face with the Demon King…

                An explosion nearby suddenly sends them both jumping like scalded frogs.

                “Aw, that’s Anissina again…”

                That name is all too familiar to even the humans. In these past few years of peace, the Poison Lady books have been selling like illegal hotcakes, the ban on them in Shimaron increasing their popularity even further. Sylvia is secretly waiting for the next installment in the thrilling climax, ‘The Poison Lady Takes on the Big Brother’.

                Meanwhile, he girl sighs. “Those poor kitties…”

                Bard gulps, well aware of his wife’s idol. “S-she experiments on kittens?”

                “What? No!” The girl looks shocked. “Of course not! She’s just experimenting on Gwendal, and Gwendal just found these newborn kitties so I was thinking if anyone remembered to feed them in his room…”

                “Gwe Dal*?” Sylvia’s ears perk up at the sound of that hated name. “The villain exists?”

                Yes, but he adopts stray kittens while the heroine tortures him in the name of science… is what Bard chooses not to say.

                “This way to the royal baths…”

                As they walk down the long corridors, they notice a commotion ahead. Before they can blink, a man walks past them without sparing them even a glance—a man of the most unparalleled beauty either of the visitors have ever seen. It is only a glimpse, but his flowing purple-silver hair, his mesmerizing violet eyes trained so focused ahead, the grace and strength in his every stride…

                Sylvia finds herself staring in the direction he went long after he vanished from sight, and Bard only remembers to be jealous when he hears her dreamy sigh.

                “How gorgeous… Is that the Maou?”

                This time, the girl laughs until she’s bent over, and Sylvia remembers almost immediately that the Maou’s defining trait is his black hair and eyes, her cheeks reddening with embarrassment.

                “Günter… the Maou… ahahaha… I’m sorry… it’s just… hahaha…”

                “So that’s Lord von Christ, the strategist?” Priding himself as more than just a man of cold steel, Bard takes his time to know the intellectuals of the world as well. “Look at that single-mindedness, he didn’t even seem to notice us as he passed… Well, that’s how geniuses are, he must have been struck by a sudden stroke of inspiration and was determined to report it to his king.”

                “Eh? That is the direction of Yuuri’s office, sure, but isn’t he just running there because he heard Wolfram has the entire day to spend with Yuuri?”

                …Slowly but surely, the couple’s image of all the mazoku superstars is slowly shattering to pieces.

 

After that they visit the 26th Maou’s famous flower garden, the protected bearbee breeding grounds in the east wing, and admire the Lord Weller Baseball Field* from atop a tower.

                “We have a game like that in Shimaron too, you know…”

                “Yeah-huh, Wolfram got angry because he said they were copying Yuuri and insulting baseball, but Yuuri was completely okay it, saying it’s not baseball at all but something called… ‘cicada’?”

                Personally Bard feels that the game they play is definitely an intentional rip-off of the mazoku’s baseball, but he won’t allow himself to openly put down his country in front of a foreigner… yet. “Still… It’d be nice if we could play one game of baseball before we left.”

                “If you want, we could go there now and see if anyone’s playing…”

                “So, the castle tour is over?” Sylvia can’t resist asking. It’s evening now as they head back to the gates, the sun turning the large river cutting through town a brilliant shade of orange, and they seem to have explored the entire castle grounds… but still, something feels missing.

                “There’s nothing else to see in here, though…”

                Sylvia tries to hide her disappointment. On second thoughts, she would have liked to see the Maou, after all, and she heard that his consort is as bright and beautiful as an angel…

                Flowers and ponies and all are nice, but nothing intrigues a girl more than a legendary pretty boy.

                Bard knows exactly what his wife is thinking, of course, and reminds her of someone else they were curious to see. “What about Princess Greta? Is she around today?”

                The tour guide pauses. “Sorry, but the princess isn’t here right now…”

                Bard nods understandingly. Shin Makoku’s human princess is another legend that invites speculation amongst the humans. Most people don’t believe it could be possible for one of their enemies to adopt a human orphan to be princess. Bard was slightly skeptical of it himself, before he came here.

                “But now… Haha, I still can’t believe that they let a human be their tour guide in the first place.”

                “Is it that surprising?” The girl asks, puzzled.

                “To put it this way… They trust a foreigner to introduce their country to people for the first time.” Bard’s heart feels light as they walk down the white stone path again, hearing the strange birds whistling in the trees. “So this is what they call the Shin Makoku Dream, huh?”

                “The Shin Makoku Dream…” The girl repeats, before her face breaks into a grin. “I like it!”

                “Who doesn’t?”

                They’re almost at the gates when suddenly there’s a commotion behind them. The girl seems used to it and continues walking, but the tourists—being tourists—have to turn back and look.

                Running towards them, waving and yelling while somehow managing to not look idiotic, are two boys in their late teens, one as black and bright as the starry night, and the other as brilliant as the sparkling sun.

                The duo’s jaws drop open.

                Is that the—

                “—ta!”

                That’s definitely the—

                “--eta!”

                But they look so young—

                “Stop!”

                The tourists were already standing still in shock, but now they freeze into statues.

                Ahh, this is it, they were caught by the Maou himself, and there’s that infamously feisty prince, too, though both of them look so good it might actually be not too bad to die like this…

                Their tour guide quickened her footsteps when she heard them approaching, but when she looks back and sees that her charges aren’t moving, she reluctantly turns back.

                “Your Majesty, Your Highness—”

                “Don’t call us that, we’re your parents!”

                “Okay, okay, Papa, Daddy… You shouldn’t run like that, Günter will scold you.”

                …Who are the parents here? Sylvia and Bard’s eyes are starting to lose focus. Why does she sound more like their mother?

                “Urk… Ah, our Greta’s all grown up, Papa feels kinda lonely…”

                “Snap out of it, Yuuri, all kids have to fly the nest eventually. No, wait, what we wanted to ask was, why are you playing tour guide to the humans again?!”

                “Well, you said so yourself, everyone has a place here as long as they work…”

                “You’re the Princess of Shin Makoku!”

                “Daddy… ‘princess’ isn’t a job.”

               “Geez, Wolf, you’re spoiling her! As long as she still calls us Papa and Daddy, I’m more than happy. Go ahead, Greta, do whatever you want, but always remember than you can come home here.”

                “Oh, Yuuri…”

                The young Maou puts his hand on his daughter’s shoulder, which is slightly jarring considering he looks younger than her. Normally looks is no way to judge a mazoku’s age, like how the Prince Consort with skin smoother than Sylvia’s is actually over ninety, but the tour guide told them just now that the King really is only 26… Not the tour guide, the princess. The princess who part-times as a tour guide.

                Shin Makoku is a wonderful place, but they realize that it’s still beyond their comprehension.

                “Oh, yeah, Yuuri, this man said he wanted to play baseball with you.”

                “Eh? Ah?!” I said I wanted to play baseball, I didn’t say I wanted to play baseball with the king! And why does she make it sound like a request? I’m just a lowly human businessman, I have no right to make requests of the Maou--!

                …is what Bard is screaming inside his head, but all that comes out of his mouth is a panicked squeak.

                Yuuri’s black eyes seem to brighten, and Bard starts to see why the mazoku are so fascinated with what he used to think is a horribly bland color. “Really? That’s great, I was going to the Shinma Lions’ evening practice anyway, our catcher got bitten by a tree yesterday and couldn’t join--”

                Meanwhile, Sylvia is asking Wolfram for beauty tips. The answer, apparently, is a lot of baths*.

                Greta tags along happily, occasionally clinging onto her fathers or joking around with them, just being so warm in general that it’s hard to resent her for tricking them. Bard sighs a little inwardly, though, and his wife picks up on it between innings.

                “It’s just that… I was so excited to tell the boys back home that Shin Makoku is a place where a normal human can be our castle tour guide.”

                “That would have been a nice story,” she admits, “But think about it…”

                They both turn to look at the Shin Makoku royal family, where the king is teasing his team, his consort is handing out the water bottles, and their human daughter has pom-poms out to cheer them on.

                “…This is the country where a princess can be a normal human.”

**Author's Note:**

> 'Shinma Lions' courtesy of RedGlassesGirl, if Yuuri ever had an official baseball team, that would definitely be its name xD
> 
> I couldn't find a way to slot in Josak and Muraken into this story though, sigh... Maybe the next one? //exams tomorrow what do you mean next one
> 
> Oh, and #TheShinMakokuDream, hehehe~


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